Borat vaults straight to top of UK box office

Published: Wednesday, November 8, 2006, 17:40 [IST]

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Wednesday, November 08, 2006London, Nov 8 (Reuters) Fresh from taking the US box office by storm, Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat set one of the highest tallies this year for an opening weekend in Britain, taking 6.2 million pounds, according to Screen International.

That figure includes previews and is well short of blockbusters like Harry Potter and Star Wars but is still two or three times the average UK figure for a film coming straight in at No 1.

The story of the intrepid Kazakhstan journalist's travels in the United States stunned industry observers by securing double its estimated take in the US at the weekend.

In Britain, it knocked blood-spattered horror flick Saw III into second place. The latest in the gruesome Saw series had gone straight to the top of the box office charts last weekend with a take of 2.5 million pounds.

At No 3 was dance-based romantic drama Step Up while down one place at four was director Martin Scorsese's mob movie The Departed, with Leonardo di Caprio and Jack Nicholson.

Fifth, unchanged, was Meryl Streep's acclaimed portrayal of a ruthless New York magazine editor in The Devil Wears Prada. Sixth, down two places was animated comedy Open Season, about a bear and a mule deer joining forces against hunters, while at seven, down one, was another animated animal comedy Barnyard. New at eight was Sixty-six, a comedy with Helena Bonham Carter about a scheduling clash between a boy's barmitzvah and the 1966 World Cup final.

Ninth down from eight was the film version of Alan Bennett's play about inspirational teaching, ''The History Boys.'' Making its debut at 10 was Little Children, starring Kate Winslet in the film version of Tom Perrotta's novel about adultery in suburbia.